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Create Healthy Rituals: The Freedom of Discipline “Some regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.” ~ Julie Andrews I agree with Julie Andrews wholeheartedly! I have always been a list maker and checker-offer. As I have gotten older, I sometimes lose my lists, yet the list is still a big part of my day. I find my electronic

A Quick Weeknight Dish for Meatless Monday Everyone wants to eat healthy, and nothing is better than fresh food made from scratch. But it’s not always easy to fit fresh meals into your schedule. Because I always cook from scratch, I often make big batches of soups and stews that we can enjoy for several days. But sometimes I like to whip up a quick, one-off meal. I recently discovered

Meatless Monday: A Vegan Take on an Old Favorite Meatless Monday wouldn’t be complete without the occasional vegetarian version of a carnivorous favorite. This week’s Meatless Monday recipe is Snobby Joes, a lentil-based version of traditional Sloppy Joes. The supporting players in this recipe are the same as what you’d find in a traditional Sloppy Joe recipe so the flavor is pretty much the same—only better IMO. This is a

Use a Wedge to Root in Malasana In India, where Yoga began, squatting is a go-to pose for many of life’s daily tasks. Before there were chairs, counters and tables, women squatted on the ground to prepare and cook meals. Some still do. Malasana supports apana, the downward-flowing energy that governs elimination. Apana energy grounds agitation, making Malasana a great counterpose for stress. Malasana also relieves constipation. In addition, it

When Yoga and Western Medicine Can Work Together In the past few days, an article by a yoga teacher named Hemalayaa has been making the Facebook rounds via bloggers such as it’s all yoga, baby, YogaDawg and Linda-Sama Karl, among others. The author of the article expresses shock and disappointment at the use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications by yoga teachers who, she opines, are just taking a “happy pill”

Teaching Yoga: The Wisdom of Humility For the past two years I’ve had the privilege of attending retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center led by Joseph Goldstein. Co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, Goldstein has written or co-written—with the likes of the Dalai Lama, among others—11 classic books on mindfulness practice. His voice has been a constant in my three decades of mindfulness practice. On silent vipassana retreats with my

Balasana: Practicing Child’s Pose on a Bolster Few things in life are more comforting than curling up in Balasana (Child’s Pose). Balasana quiets the mind and restores spent energy. Among its many benefits, Balasana focuses the breath into the back body and supports the natural outward expansion of the lungs on each inhalation. Like all forward bends, Child’s Pose turns our focus inward. But for some people, especially yogis whose

Meatless Monday: Miso-Almond Sauce You probably already know this, but we Americans don’t eat nearly enough veggies. An NPR story reported that rather than the 2-3 cups of green goodies that are recommended, we eat a scant 1.5 cups every day, mostly in the form of potatoes (read: fries) and tomatoes (read: pizza). Meatless Monday is the perfect time to ponder how you can add more veggies into your day.

How to Choose the Right Meditation Cushion—Zafu, Zen or V-Shaped People sometimes chuckle when I tell them that sitting meditation is physically rigorous. But it’s true. When you sit still and tune into your body for any length of time, you’re likely to become uncomfortable. And sitting for long periods in the same position will at some point start to make you antsy. Even in my hour-long meditation classes, people

How to Know Whether to Teach Yoga When You’re Not Well Yesterday morning I woke up with a sensation that’s all too familiar, a little scratchiness at the back of my throat. That’s how a cold/flu/sinus infection always starts for me. I’ve been throwing some herbal defenses its way and it doesn’t seem to be getting worse, but it’s not getting better either—yet. By far the most stressful part of